The glad completion of the fates' decree,
Kind heaven reserved, Emmanuel, for thee.
The crown, and high ambition of thy[1] sires,
To thee descending, waked thy latent fires;
And to command the sea from pole to pole,
With restless wish inflamed thy mighty soul.
Now from the sky the sacred light withdrawn,
O'er heaven's clear azure shone the stars of dawn,
Deep silence spread her gloomy wings around,
And human griefs were wrapt in sleep profound.
The monarch slumber'd on his golden bed,
Yet anxious cares possest his thoughtful head;
His generous soul, intent on public good,
The glorious duties of his birth review'd.
When sent by heaven a sacred dream inspired
His labouring mind, and with its radiance fired:
High to the clouds his towering head was rear'd,
New worlds and nations fierce and strange, appear'd;
The purple dawning o'er the mountains flow'd,
The forest-boughs with yellow splendor glow'd;
High from the steep two copious glassy streams
Roll'd down, and glitter'd in the morning beams.
Here various monsters of the wild were seen,
And birds of plumage azure, scarlet, green:
Here various herbs, and flowers of various bloom;
There, black as night the forest's horrid gloom,
- ↑ The crown, and high ambition of thy sires.—Emmanuel was cousin to the late king John II. and grandson to king Edward, son of John I.
